


When Kid can’t sleep

by glassskins



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Fun, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 08:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9312992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassskins/pseuds/glassskins
Summary: Oneshot that takes place in an orphanage au. Law is around 14, and Kid is around 12. Crack/silly/humour. Kid(s) will be kid(s).“Do you not have paper?!” He screamed, an outburst he could not control, feeling all the blood rush to his head and his breathing reduced to short bursts.





	

For the first week since Kid’s transfer into the orphanage, they had both shared a few restless nights. Law often found himself preoccupied with thoughts that it wasn’t until dawn was almost arising could he somehow manage to drift off into sleep. Kid, on the other hand, seemed to fall asleep the instant his head hit the sack. However, it was _staying_ asleep that Kid had a problem with. Which, funnily enough, was the exact opposite of what Law found troubling.

 

During their first night sharing the room, Law found himself stirred from sleep by cold, fleeting light touches fondling the fingers of his right hand, accompanied by a wet sensation brushing against his fingernails. It didn’t feel unpleasant, nor was it painful, but it was weird and out of the ordinary. He wondered if he was dreaming, and exhaustion willed his consciousness to fade. Although, before he could fully drift back off into sleep, he caught a whiff of a pungent smell lingering in the air. A surge of panic shot up his spine, and he snapped his eyes wide open. In the semi darkness of a room lit only by a small table lamp, Law adjusted his sight upon the bent over figure seated by the edge of his bed.

 

For a few seconds, he lay awake, feeling his chest rise and fall with every breath. He watched as the taller figure busied itself by his side, and part of his alarm from earlier gradually melted away as his vision registered that it was indeed his new roommate, Eustass. Even though the younger kid’s hair was no longer gelled up like an angry flame, but falling down in messy waves over his face, and even though there wasn’t much light in the room, that shade of red was hardly inconspicuous. Feeling the cool wetness brush over another of his fingernails, Law darted his eyes to the source of the disturbance of his sleep.

 

Though initially delayed perhaps by a state of grogginess and perplexity, fury and frustration began to stir rapidly within Law. Not only was his personal space invaded, Eustass had had the nerve to make bodily contact with his hands. In fact, not only was bodily contact (which Law absolutely despised and went out of his way to avoid) instigated, but the impertinent brat was actually applying polish on Law’s fingernails, at **_four in the morning_ ** , when he was **_sleeping_ ** , and **_without his permission,_ ** no less!

 

Law immediately felt his body grow tense as his brows worked themselves furiously into a furrow. He was frowning so hard, he could almost picture himself developing the ability to shoot death rays from his eyes as he lay on his back glaring at the new kid. Maybe Eustass had his own death ray shield or some incredibly thick skin, but the redhead couldn’t seem to tell that Law was very much awake by then and highly irked by his actions.

 

Finally, Law snapped, forcefully yanking his hand out of Kid’s grip as he kicked out with all the strength he could muster. His foot collided with a few nail polish bottles, knocking them off the bed and smack onto the floor with a loud crackle, but it ultimately found its target and socked Kid squarely in the chest.

 

Kid was taken in shock, and had yelped in surprise as Law’s foot struck him in the ribs. “What the fuck was that for?!” He exclaimed, looking genuinely hurt and offended by the sudden act of aggression.

 

“I wouldn’t even know where to start, Eustass,” Law replied curtly, wearing a look of exasperation. He couldn’t tell if Kid was being serious or feigning ignorance. “It’s not normal to paint someone’s nails while they sleep.”

 

Kid seemed to have a lot to say in his defense to that. “But the look matches your ink, brah!” He had loudly justified. “And your nails are kinda pretty it would be a waste to leave them looking so colourless and _naked_. Besides, I ran out of nails to paint on myself, what was I to do, paint my teeth?”

 

“Don’t you ever do that again,” Law spat, groaning inwardly. He turned his back to Kid to face the wall, as he pulled the bedcovers over his head. He had expected Kid to continue to pick a fight, but fortunately Kid had decided not to press the issue further. Law remained silent, digging and scraping away at the fresh coat of paint on his nails while he listened to Kid moving in the background to pick up the fallen bottles of polish and shuffle back to his bed. Law hadn’t managed to fall back asleep after that, and given the amount of tossing and flipping he heard Kid perform in his own bed, it sounded like neither had Kid.

 

When morning came, Law produced a black marker from his belongings and proceeded to draw a line on the floor through the room, thereby dividing it into equal halves, more or less. Kid shot him a look of bewilderment as he watched Law vandalize the floor.

 

“This room is big enough for the both of us. Stay on your side and don’t cross this line.” Law explained with a deadpan expression. That was the end of that, for a while.

 

The next two nights after the forced manicure incident, Law lay in bed more awake than usual. He was admittedly a little on alert, because he wasn’t sure Kid understood that he was being serious about the boundaries of the room. His head on the pillow, Law gazed up to the ceiling, watching the blades of the fan spin around its axis hypnotically. From the other side of the room, he could hear the occasional low rumbling of a snore originating from his roommate, deep in his land of dreams. Law wouldn’t admit it, but in a way, he was appreciative of the company.

 

Law must have fallen asleep eventually, because his subconscious started chasing memories of the past, replaying and twisting them into a greater torment than what his reality had seen. It’s the same old dreams. He’s trying desperately to run, but it feels like wading through a pool of quicksand. Law knows it’s not real, not anymore, and after many agonising attempts, he finally found himself jerking awake. His hair, dampened with perspiration, clung to his scalp like a wet mop. The air in the room was cool, but he felt the bed sheet stick uncomfortably to his skin with sweat. The vivid images from his dream still fresh in mind, he lay still, dazed, replaying bits of the nightmare in his head. Distracted by his thoughts, it wasn’t only until he felt something move, gliding along the skin of his arm, that he was startled out of his reverie.

 

Law jolted upright, swinging his arm towards his chest, disturbed by the sudden and unexpected touch. His gaze flickered to his right, his thoughts still in a flurry, and he worried for what he would find. An instance of his nightmare escaping into reality? Feeling a frantic pulse in his chest, he concentrated on the figure beside him and, lo and behold, who does he see crouched by his bed but Eustass fucking Kid, grinning widely with his pearly white teeth gleaming in the dark.

 

Without a moment’s hesitation to process his thoughts, Law grabbed the 682 paged 14th Edition of Dr Pestan’s Surgery Notes that lay by the side of his bed, and with one swift motion, chucked it remorselessly towards Kid’s head.

 

Eustass’s reaction, however, was lightning quick, Law would give him that. Perhaps it was from years of practice from living on the streets, stealing food and what not, Law didn’t care. Kid ducked just barely in time, and the corner of the book only nicked him across the cheek, before slamming into the opposite wall. Law was unsatisfied with that, and proceeded to hurl at Kid the only other thing within reach: his pillow, which smacked successfully into Kid’s head with a thump. Law watched, scowling in exasperation, as Kid fumbled in the dark to regain his balance.

 

“I asked only one thing of you, Eustass. Stay away and stay asleep, or I’ll punch you into a coma myself,” Law warned with a hint of menace, though part of him felt that it was probably pointless to communicate with Kid using words alone.

 

Kid had picked himself to his feet, and was making a show of straightening and dusting off his clothes. It was then that Law found his attention drawn to the black permanent marker sitting in Kid’s hand. It was the very same marker that Law had used to draw the black territorial line across the floor, albeit one that had instantly gone ignored.

 

“Anyone tell you you’re really mean?” Kid sulked, glowering and crossing his arms across his chest.

 

“Don’t antagonise me, Eustass. What were you doing with that?” Law demanded, feeling his agitation grow. That he was quite drenched in sweat was not helping matters.

 

“Check yourself out,” Kid replied, pursing his lips into a self-satisfied smirk while jabbing a finger in Law’s direction.

 

“Wh-” Law shifted his gaze down towards his own body, his face contorting with horror at the sight which met his eyes. His tattoos- somehow they had multiplied! Eustass, the nerve of the brat, had brazenly used Law’s skin- again, without his _permission_ \- as a canvas on which to refine his godawful art skills. Law felt his jaw drop in shock and his eyes widen to the edges of their sockets.

 

“Do you not have paper?!” He screamed, an outburst he could not control, feeling all the blood rush to his head and his breathing reduced to short bursts.

 

“Calm down, man. It just seems that you like hearts a lot, so I took the liberty of doing you a favour and added to your collection,” Kid chirped, looking quite pleased with himself. He ran his eyes inch by inch all over his masterpiece on Law’s skin, nodding to himself in approval, “You dig?”

 

Law threw his hands protectively over his bare chest, suddenly feeling quite exposed and vulnerable under Kid’s gaze. Perhaps it was a mistake to sleep only in pants. Flinging aside the bed covers, he blatantly ignored Kid, not bothering to gratify him with a response. Law merely rose from the bed and stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut on his way out.

 

Kid was unbelievable! Law had shared the room with a few kids previously during his stay, but none of them had gotten on his nerves to this extent, and Law was not one who was quick to rise to agitation. There were very few things that could grind his gears.

 

Law made his way to the shared bathroom facilities on the same floor, flipping on the lights as he entered. He managed to get a better look at Kid’s doodling on his skin under the bright lights of the bathroom, in front of the mirrors, and granted, it wasn’t as atrocious as he had previously imagined, but there was no way he was going to walk around flaunting it. A few tattooed hearts decorating his skin looked cool (aside from what they meant personally to him), but having hundreds of hearts across every inch of his skin made him look like a lovesick maniac and a person with an unsound mind.

 

Law ended up spending the rest of the night stuck in the bathroom, concentrating his irritation into painfully scrubbing his skin red and raw with hot water and soap, a desperate attempt to wash off the ink. All throughout the ordeal he had enough time to entertain thoughts of various ways of getting his vengeance.

 

The following night, Law kept himself awake till he heard Kid snoring away. He picked up the same cursed marker from before, and crept silently to Kid’s bed. Standing over the prone figure, its arms sprawled wildly to the sides, Law uncapped the pen and held it steadily in his hand, which he then lowered to Kid’s face. Maybe his roommate was onto something, because much to his surprise, Law found himself enjoying the process of redecorating Kid’s face. It was quite a relaxing act indeed. Maybe he would have a calling to specialize in plastic surgery.

 

The next morning, incessant shrieking and wailing could be heard originating from the bathroom, causing a huge ruckus and complete pandemonium before breakfast. Law was sitting on his bed, burying his face in a book when Kid came bursting back into the room in outrage.

 

“You did this, didn’t you?!” Kid thundered, sounding like he was boiling with fury, although one look at his face told Law that Kid was on the verge of brimming with tears. Law fought back a smirk that crept onto his face. This time, it was his turn to gaze upon his roommate and admire his work of art. The makeover was a good effort; he could certainly say he was proud.

 

“I was only returning the favour. Don’t want to be ungracious and all, you know,” Law chimed in reply, letting his book drop to the bed as he shifted his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner, leaning back into the pillow.

 

“You call this a favour?” Kid howled in resentment, “You drew middle fingers and dicks on my face!”

 

“Suits you, doesn’t it? You’ll thank me late-” Law quipped, but before he could finish, he found himself being roughly tackled to the ground by a furious Kid. Although Kid was younger by a few years, he towered over Law in height and his built gave him an advantage that Law found himself wrestling with. Nevertheless, Law thought he did pretty well, considering how quickly Kid halted his offenses when Law fisted a hand through Kid’s hair. All he had to do was give it a swift yank, and he would have Kid cursing and swearing in defeat. Law shelved that piece of information to the back of his mind. It would come in handy in the future. He was not beneath playing dirty if it meant securing his victories.

 

The call for breakfast put a temporary hold on their first scuffle, though it would be one of many fights to follow. Despite the provocation, Law found himself smiling as he strolled towards the dining area. That hadn't happened in a long while. 

  


**Author's Note:**

> So, I had a whole au planned with regards to their backstories and was going to make it tragic, and then have them become friends and grow close in the orphanage, later escaping together. But I haven’t written anything in a long while, and so I put that idea aside. But I wanted to write this stupid idea I had anyway and this is what became of it. I might continue it, if I can think of something good.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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